$1.34 billion lottery prize shared by two people

CHICAGO (WAND) - The Illinois Lottery winner of the $1.34 billion Mega Millions jackpot has now come forward, almost eight weeks after the drawing.

The Illinois Lottery confirmed the prize has now been claimed. The prize was shared by two individuals, who agreed to split the prize if won.

The winners wish to remain anonymous, and the Illinois Lottery is unable to share any information about the winners.

Illinois Lottery Claims Manager Luis Rodriguez was there to support the winners and their legal representatives through the prize claim process.

“I’ve been working for the Illinois Lottery for over five years, and this is by far the largest prize I’ve ever had to process. When we met with the winners’ lawyers there was a real buzz of excitement in the room,” said Rodriguez.

“It’s a surreal feeling giving away this amount of money and knowing what a huge impact this is going to make on the winners’ lives, and for others close to them as well. It was an incredible feeling just to be part of that process – so I can only imagine how the winners themselves are feeling.”

The ticket was bought from a Speedway in Des Plaines for the Mega Millions drawing at the end of July, with the third largest jackpot in U.S. history.

“These winners are now in the enviable position of deciding what to do with their newfound fortune,” said Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays.

“They stopped into the Speedway in Des Plaines and grabbed a Mega Millions ticket while they were there. That turned out to be an absolutely life changing decision when a $3 line of Mega Millions with Megaplier turned into a $1.34 billion jackpot win.”

The winners have spent the past few weeks working with professional legal and financial advisors to support the claim process, and have opted to take the lump sum payment of $780.5 million.

During the jackpot roll, the Illinois Lottery generated $34 million for the Common School Fund through the sale of the game.

Retailers earned $3.75 million in payable commission and bonuses for selling winning tickets, and in total there were more than 1.4 million winning tickets in Illinois collecting $11.8 million in prizes (excluding the jackpot), including four people who won prizes of $1 million.